The commitment to mediocrity continues to thrive at the Texas State Board of Education. Last week the board’s creationist bloc once again stopped board reformers — both Republicans and Democrats — from changing the outrageously politicized process for revising curriculum standards for Texas public schools. Observers who watched the state board revise curriculum standards for […]
curriculum standards
Low-lights in Social Studies
As we reported Monday, a new report prepared for the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board slams the State Board of Education (SBOE) for their politicized, factually challenged re-write of social studies curriculum standards last year. The report is worth a read to see just how extensive the damage was to those standards — and to […]
Easiest $500 Perry Ever Made
Gov. Perry, we’d like to bring an exciting money-making opportunity to your attention. Have you ever met Ken Mercer? You might have. Mercer is the District 5 representative on the State Board of Education and, proudly, a member of that body’s far-right bloc. Last month when the SBOE debated adoption of instructional materials in science, […]
Inventing ‘Facts’ Fails in Hearing on SBOE
When fanatics don’t have facts to back up their arguments, they invent them. We saw that during the Texas Senate Higher Education Committee’s hearing Wednesday on SB 1348. That bill and companion HB 3263 call for the appointment of teams of highly qualified scholars from Texas colleges and universities to review proposed public school curriculum […]
The Final 48 Hours
It’s astonishing how much mischief can be done in just 48 hours. Today Texas legislators have a chance to help put a stop to some of it, at least when it comes to the State Board of Education. More about that below. Teachers and scholars spent nearly a year — more than two years in […]
